


Welcome to Earth

by masterofall14



Series: Altered State Universe [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), James Bond (Craig movies), Resident Evil (Movieverse), Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Discrimination, Episode: s01e03 The Great Game, F/M, Homophobia, M/M, Post-Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, Sherlock Is A Bit Not Good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-26 02:16:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3833260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterofall14/pseuds/masterofall14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Metacrisis prepares himself for a new life on Earth with Rose, he suddenly discovers that not all humans want him there. Or any other abnormalities, including Project Alice, Raven and many other mutants and aliens. When they're left together fighting for their lives and their sanity, surviving a new type of holocaust and torture is just the beginning of the end.<br/>Takes place just after the Metacrisis and Rose are left behind in Pete's world. Raven Darkholme is nine years old.</p><p>First four chapters re-edited</p><p>Ch1: Bad Wolf Bay /<br/>Ch2: The Doctor learns more about Pete's World /<br/>Ch3: Introducing Sherrinford Holmes, Blink and Q /<br/>ch4: The Doctor talks to Donna and the Oncoming storm, Alice sleeps and Raven runs/<br/>ch5: The Doctor makes his first friends in Torchwood: Sherrinford, Blink and Q /<br/>Ch6: Torchwood isn't as perfect as it seemed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Wolf Bay

There was nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

His head was empty. The connection he shared with the TARDIS was severed so suddenly it hurt. It ripped his breath away and shredded his heart. 

He also couldn't feel Donna anymore.

He gripped her hand and waited for her to react, to say something. The silence was unendurable. He wanted a sign, a scream, a laugh, tears, anything. Anything but her blank stare at where the TARDIS had been.

Still, she'd kissed him right ? When he'd whispered to her the three small words, words that could bring armies to their knees, kings back to the beds of their queens and yes, even Rose Tyler to kiss him, she'd responded just the way the Doctor had always dreamed she would. It was wonderful. He was on cloud nine.

He couldn't help but be aware of some differences in himself as he stood there, holding the hand of one of the most important person in the universe to him. There was someone in his head, relieved at Rose's actions and it most certainly wasn't the Doctor. The smugness felt like Donna, as though she was relieved to have finally swapped spit with Rose. “Swapped spit” was a rather crude term to him but...

Hang on, why would she be satisfied at the chance to kiss Rose...? Unless, he and Donna were connected at a more emotional level then he realized...

He decided to leave the pondering to later as he suddenly felt Rose release his hand. He snatched at thin air, panicked, desperate to be reassured that she would not leave him. He spun around and jogged to catch up with her as she ran to embrace Jackie. Jackie who'd been on the phone with her husband for the past five minutes to arrange for someone to come and pick them up. She gave him a small smile over daughter's shoulder. The three of them didn't move for at least a few minutes until Rose finally released her mum and turned to face him. There were tear tracks there, on her cheeks, glistening in the sunlight and he couldn't help but feel immensely guilty that he was the reason they were there in the first place. How he wished things could have turned out differently. There was no reason for the Doctor to leave them here, they could have traveled together, the four of them. Well, the three of them, considering what was about to happen to Donna.

Who was he kidding? He and the Doctor would've been fighting for Rose's attention. It would have been a never ending battle of wits to see which one of them was top dog and the Doctor would have won. This was easy for the Doctor. Never losing Rose to old age or an accident and disposing of a genocidal menace who looked like him all in one go. Two birds, one stone. How he'd always hated that expression. Or maybe it was Donna who hated it.

God, this was confusing. 

He was pulled out of his musings by Rose who tugged his sleeve gently and together, the three of them set off towards dryer and less sandy land. The nearest house was thirteen miles away, so they settled on a grassy patch near the top of the cliff and waited for Pete to arrive.

And still Rose didn't say a word.

He slipped his hand into his pocket and clutched at the piece of TARDIS he'd managed to snag while the Doctor had been saying good bye to some of the others outside the police box. He would never see them again, Jack, Martha, Sarah-Jane and Mickey. They were only memories now. Another man's memories. It hurt his one heart so much he wanted to rip it out of his own chest. It was too painful to keep concealed behind his ribcage. Was this what it was like to be human? To have no control over the rage of your own emotions? To feel that burning pit of fire in your stomach and that consuming agony that squeezed your lungs so you couldn't breathe? Cos' that's what he was feeling right now.

But Rose was here. And that's all that mattered.


	2. New Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor does a bit of research about Pete's world while travelling back to England on the Zeppelin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and update on a more regular basis because I want to be really dedicated to this story.

The journey back to Britain was smooth but slow. The Zeppelin travelled at a pleasant pace and the Doctor – Or whatever his name was now – was using his time wisely. Pete, after a warm and understanding welcome, had retreated to the lounge with his family and the Doctor (really needed a new name) decided against studying the workings of their transport and joined the family with Pete's computer to learn as much as he could about this world and it's Torchwood.

 

Once the man had typed in his password, granting the Doctor complete access to what was apparently called “The Higher Network”, he started to learn. Of course, had he had his sonic screwdriver on him, he wouldn't have needed the password. Perhaps he could have hacked it himself, but he didn't think that was the best way to start a friendship with Rose's dad.

 

He first discovered something about himself. He could now type _really_ quickly, faster than before and made a mental note to thank Donna's temp typing skills. At least that was _one_ good thing he'd inherited. Because snappy comebacks aren't really all that important, as awesome as they may be. It's a pity it didn't come with ginger hair. Although, if he may be honest, ginger hair may not look all too good on him.

 

He entered the network, run by Torchwood and Trask Industries and was apparently funded by the Umbrella Corporation. He'd never heard of these industries before, so he quickly hacked their mainframe simultaneously. Good to know he was still clever enough to do that.

Umbrella appeared to be a little boring to him. Later in life he would think back to this moment and wonder why he didn't delve deeper, but they were just a pharmaceutical industry to him, so he moved onto Trask, but the man merely dealt with weapons. He also studied a community of people called Mutants. The Doctor paused mid-typing before going back onto the Network and looking up Mutants.

 

_Bloody hell._

 

The Doctor never cursed, but the Donna in him just had to speak up, cos' _wow._ There were people out there with superpowers. Actual abilities that made them more evolved than their ancestors. On this planet they'd reached the next stage in human evolution. It was nothing like the reality he'd just left behind in another dimension.

 

He sat back for a moment and absorbed this information. He could feel the other occupants in the room staring at him but he didn't look at them. He didn't talk to them. He rolled his shoulders and continued searching. He didn't know how much they would want him to know at first but it was safe to assume that they didn't know how quickly he was researching. He would ask questions later.

 

He absorbed everything quickly. The meltdown in Raccoon city that had been dealt with; the first man to step on the moon was Jefferson Tracy; an organisation were dealing with a troublesome species known as the Mysterons called Spectrum, a humanoid species called the Rabesch and Sherlock Holmes was not a fictional character and was currently solving crimes for Scotland Yard.

 

The Doctor could feel Donna's interest. Perhaps this world wouldn't be so bad after all. Pete had already told him that he would be able to meet the Torchwood team tomorrow. But Rose still wasn't talking to him. He just hoped she hadn't suddenly decided that she'd made a mistake.

 

He sat back and enjoyed the trip back to England. He'd get a chance to find out more about this planet once everyone had settled down and adapted to this unexpected situation.

 


	3. The Other Holmes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the trio are in Norway, waiting to be picked up, Sherrinford, Blink and Q discuss the dimension canon and Q's cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't been able to update unil now, sorry for the delay. I also apologise for spelling mistakes.

Sherrinford Holmes was not having a good day.

His moron of a twin brother was in the papers causing a scandal with Scotland Yard _again_. Which meant that everyone at work was staring at him, because hey, guess what, he looked just like Sherlock. And some people hadn’t got the message that they were not in fact the one and the same person. Because he was surrounded by idiots.

Only Mycroft knew he was still alive. Sherlock and Mummy were in the dark and Sherrinford had threatened Mycroft with nuclear war to guarantee that he’d keep his gob shut. Therefore, Sherlock had no idea that he was causing misery for his younger twin, as everyone wanted selfies and autographs  and all he wanted was to get authorisation to build his artificial intelligence which would help with the interaction with aliens and mutants alike. But no. William had to mess things up. Sherrinford wonders what they must have been like as children.

His internal monologue is interrupted by Blink as she jumps through the portal she has created and arrives breathless at his side. He feels he should reprimand her once again about her use of powers rather than taking the lift or the stairs, but they’ve had this argument so many times, Sherrinford just rolls his eyes and waves Q over so they can analyse the dimension canon. He wonders how long the Tyler heiress will take this time and whether she’s finally arrived in the right universe. The three of them stare at the numbers on the computer screens and Clarice worries her lip in concern.

“Do you see what I’m seeing?”

Sherrinford has to remind himself that she was not intentionally pointing out the obvious and that he had to be socially acceptable. Enough people hated him as it was. “Yes, I can. It looks like the cracks are closing again. Perhaps this means miss Tyler has found what she is looking for. Or should I say who she is looking for.”

“Oh god.” Both Clarice and Sherrinford turn to look at Q. “We have a serious problem.”

Sherrinford feels a flash of confusion, which was unusual for him. “What do you mean? We know that she wasn’t planning on coming back.”

Q turns an alarming shade of red. His hands flutter and he glances around as though looking for an escape route. “We have a situation here. When Mr. Tyler finds out, we’re all in trouble. I believe I may have just cost you both your jobs.”

Sherrinford tenses, his gaze as sharp as steel. “What have you done?”

Q’s fidgeting becomes more pronounced and he starts to sweat. “Jackie Tyler came in this morning and…”

“Oh dear lord,” groans Blink, “you sent her after Rose didn’t you! But that means she could get stuck in the parallel dimension too! You idiot, Pete Tyler will destroy us if he finds out that we lost his wife! Was she armed? Please tell me you sent her with a gun, we don’t know what she could be facing, but it’s bad enough to cause all the stars to go out.”

Sherrinford rubbed his head and sighed. As much as he hated it, he owed a lot to Pete and didn’t particularly want to get on his bad side, especially as Q was under his supervision and therefore, the blame would be put on him.

“Mickey went with her! He’ll keep her safe, she’s like a mother to him.”

“Oh that’s brilliant,” snapped Sherrinford, “You sent Mickey the Idiot to protect the wealthiest women in Europe. What did Jackie promise you, hum? A pay raise, perhaps?”

“I have three cats to feed!” said Q, indignantly.

“Mr.Tyler is paying you more than five times what MI6 was. And don’t use the cat excuse again, that’s the third time this week.”

They all fall silent and try to find a solution to their predicament. Sherrinford, as usual, thinks of one first.

“Alright, I’ll go after them, while there’s still time. Give me the gun, Blink, you open a portal and…”

Pete Tyler runs in at that moment, looking winded. He walks straight up to them and shakes their hands warmly. Q starts to bite his nails.

“Congratulations,” He says, his face emotional and proud, “You managed to get Rose to the right universe this time.” He looks Sherrinford in the eye. “You’re a bloody genius. And thank you for getting by wife back safe.”

“Your-r wife-fe?”stammers Sherrinford, wishing he didn’t in these type of situations. Pete Tyler and most other people with authority make him stammer. “Did they find a way to contact you?”

Pete continues to beam at him like a proud father, something Sherrinford had always wished from his own. “My wife and daughter are back in this universe, they’re in Norway. I’m leaving to pick them up now.” He reaches out to grasp him by the shoulders and ignores the way Sherrinford flinches instinctively. “Thank you for keeping my family safe.” His eyes tear up and the three scientists look at each other uncomfortably, as none of them are very good with emotions. Luckily, Pete seems to realise this and with one last smile, he takes his leave.

However, Q is confused. “Did he just say that they’re both back?” he asks, although they all know it’s a rhetorical question. “Does that mean something’s happened to Rose’s friend? Do you think something has happened to the Doctor?”

“Either that, or he didn’t want her.” Says Blink quietly. We know he lives for a long time; maybe he’s moved on. Or maybe she jumped him before finding out if he actually liked her that way.” She pauses and pushes some of her pink strands behind her ears. “We all know how stubborn Rose can be. Perhaps he wasn’t too happy that she punched holes in the universe while trying to get back to him.” She sighs. "I'm not being rude, guys. But we did all warn her of the repurcussions of blowing holes in our atmosphere and she didn't care. There are eight billion people living on this planet and she didn't stop to think about them."

They stand there for a while longer until the canon beeps, telling them that the cracks have finally closed. Blink leans against the table and looks up, taking deep breaths before teleporting out of the room, ignoring Sherrinford’s exasperated sigh. Q turns away and mutters something about a coffee break, leaving Sherrinford alone in the lab. He spends an extra minute mentally calculating the repercussions they may have caused by sending Rose back and forth through the breach. The result he ends up with isn’t reassuring and he decides he should try to take his mind off it by continuing with his project. He walks over to his desk and looks at the mass of metal and parts he has scavenged in order to (illegally) build what he had dreamt of since he was fifteen. Running his fingertips over the circuits, his smile is sad, yet full of hope.

“Hello, Christopher.”


	4. Donna and the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Metacrisis discovers he's even more unstable than he realised. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short chapter with the Doctor talking. To himself. And some other characters encountering problems of their own

_Kill. Kill. Kill._

The Doctor sat hunched in the cramped bathroom of the zeppelin, clutching his head and doing everything in his power to not cry out and alert the Tylers. The voices in his head were getting louder, Donna shouting, but another voice was rising up, above all ten Doctors and Donna, a voice that was familiar, and yet he could not place it. It roared and screamed, furious, murderous, desperate to take control. But control of what? Why was this happening to him? What was wrong with him? And why did he feel so… genocidal? All he wanted to do was kill… But it wasn’t him, it was this voice in the back of his head, this anger, this pure rage…

“Who are you?” he whispered.

_You know who I am._

The Doctor smirked. Oh, the irony. “You’re the storm. The Oncoming Storm.”

_So you recognize me._

“You’re the battle cry from the Time War. You’re the fury I would scream before killing my enemies. I haven’t heard you in a while. Why have you come back now?”

_I haven’t come back. I am you. You are a man of war. A man of Time lord intelligence with human emotions. You are perfect for me. The Doctor got rid of Rose, You and I all in one go. How clever of him._

The Doctor refrained from commenting. “Please don’t kill anyone. Don’t hurt Rose and her family. I know what you’re capable of. Please don’t hurt anyone on this new world.” He gripped his head harder, his nails digging into his scalp.

The beast smirked. _I’ll behave. For now. But if the humans bother me in any way…_ There was a pause. _I will burn this planet and take every living thing with me. We will **burn**. _

The Doctor giggled, without his consent. “I’ll stop you. And so will Donna.”

_Then you’ll both perish trying._

Donna whimpered. The Doctor gritted his teeth.

 

888

 

A man in a lab coat approached what looked like a giant fish tank inserted into the wall. He observed the woman who was curled into a fetal position inside, her hair slowly growing back where it had been burnt off in the helicopter accident. Her scars had almost disappeared, but she still remained unconscious.

Doctor Isaacs wasn’t concerned. Project Alice would wake up when she was ready. He just had to ensure that she wouldn’t remember everything. If by any chance she did… Then he would have to have her moved to another facility. The one in Britain was more secure than where he was in now and Torchwood were far too stupid to intervene. It helped to have people on the inside. Know thy enemy, as they say.

Project Alice would be pushed to the limit. And when he’d broken her, he’d just keep pushing.

His phone beeped and he reached into his trouser pocket to pull it out. His glance at the screen became a long stare of curiosity before a grin broke out onto his face. Anyone looking at him would say that there should be a law against him smiling.

The alien he had been informed about, this _Doctor_ had arrived on this planet and was being taken under the overstretched wing of Pete Tyler. Ten million pounds would be transferred into his account if he were to take care of this Doctor and dispose of him for good. More money to be transferred if he could discover the Doctor’s secrets first.

Wow. His sponsor had to be _desperate_. This was his chance to learn how humanoids could be born on other planets. And if he could give his sponsor the incentive to get project Alice involved…

He turned back to the woman in the water tank. “Oh my dear,” he smiled, “Have I got things planned for you…”

 

888

 

_Run. Don’t turn blue. Stay white. Don’t turn blue._

A small figure ran through the mud, looking over its shoulder for its pursuers, jumping at the sound of gunshots and yells. It was a little girl, homeless for the past six years, having escaped her disgusted parents at their daughter’s fate, their screams of _little blue freak, get out or we’ll kill you, we’ll beat the devil out of you…_

Her scales itched on her right arm, where she’d almost been burnt by the chemicals. She couldn’t let them catch up or they’d do such terrible things, bad things, she’d watched them burn a red mutant alive, seen his desperate attempts to teleport as they poured gasoline over his red flesh…

“She’s over here! Quickly, Trask wants her alive!”

She ran faster, but she was too small to outrun them. They caught up and dragged her away by her bright red hair, ignoring her screams and pleas to let her go.

_We’ll beat the devil out of you._

 

 


	5. Torchwood, Dimension canons and Christopher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor meets the Torchwood team and chooses a new name.

Awkward. That was the only word circulating around his oversized timelord brain, yeti t was the only word to describe his situation. Travelling was awkward, as was the mansion, the guest bedroom, the Tylers, Rose… His whole existence was awkward and everyone seemed struck by his strangeness.

So what are you? A hybrid. -Why are you here? I’m dangerous. -Is it safe to be near you? I’m genocidal, not homicidal. -Are you still the Doctor? Yes, I am, Rose, I swear I am. -Do you love me? Until the end of my days Rose Tyler.

He had smiled at her then, but she had stared coldly at him before disappearing into her room and slamming the door. His heart had quite literally sunk to his stomach and a cold sensation had settled at the base of his spine. _Are you still the Doctor?_ No. He felt toon abandoned and alone to be the Doctor. Everyone loved the Doctor, except the man himself. They loved him because of what he had to offer. But a discarded hybrid had nothing to offer. If Rose couldn’t love him then he was insignificant, because what other purpose did he have other than loving her? He would give her the universe if he could, but if she only loved him because he had a TARDIS, was it worth telling her he had a piece and that together they could grow their own?

No. For now, he would try to win her heart by being his brand new self, not by pretending to be the Doctor.

Travelling to Torchwood in the limousine was awkward, stony silences from everyone around him, no one knowing how to talk to this alien they had been left to deal with. He had no words of wisdom to give, nothing new to tell them about this parallel world that they didn’t already know.

He was the companion now.

They walked him into the building, but he didn’t feel like a guest, more a threat, as they lead him straight to the labs on the top floor. Fear uncurled in his belly, snaking its way through his limbs and he could feel himself begin to sweat. He was afraid. For the first time ever, he was truly terrified.

People stared. They obviously knew who he was, or rather who he was supposed to be. Their eyes bore judgmental holes into him and he just wanted to run. He could feel Donna bristling and had to clamp his mouth shut to stop her from commenting out loud. He couldn’t let anyone know just how deranged his psyche was right now. If they found out about Donna or heaven forbid, the Storm… They’d throw him in a rubber room before he could say “Gallifrey”. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice his internal battle with his feisty best friend or the great beast which slithered around him, ready to strike the unsuspecting humans. For now.

When they finally stopped in front of a desk, people slowly started to gather around them. The Doctor drew himself to his full height and stuffed his hands into his pockets, allowing himself to smile. He didn’t notice Rose stiffen behind his back. A woman finally stepped forward.

“Sir,” she said and for a horrible moment he thought she was going to salute him. “It’s an absolute honour to meet you.”

The Doctor beamed. “Thank you.” He replied. “I’m pleased to meet you too. What’s your name?” He reached out to shake her hand.

“Oh for god’s sake!” Yelled Rose, making everyone jump. “Don’t bother guys. He’s not the Doctor, only a clone I’ve been dumped with. Apparently I’m a babysitter now.” She stormed off, leaving everyone standing awkwardly (that word again!), glancing between each other until some walked away, giving the Doctor suspicious looks. Donna wanted to cry, the Storm paced. _We’ll show them_. They whispered. _We’ll show them all_.

“Q! Q, come quick, it’s the Doctor!”

Two young lab technicians ran into the room. The man was most likely in his early thirties, his glasses askew, chemical burns all down his lab coat, his messy black hair falling into his eyes and ranked an eight on Donna’s _hot men_ list. The woman’s eyes caught the Doctor’s attention; they were a bright vibrant green and she had tattoos on her eyelids. There were pink strands in her hair and the Doctor wondered what type of style this was on this new world. Together they ran up to him, looking inordinately pleased.

“Are you the Doctor?” gushed the girl, stumbling over her words in excitement, “Excellent. Would you come with us? We’d like you to take a look at our dimension canon. Would you care to give us your input? Brilliant!” They grabbed a hand each and dragged the confused timelord into another lab. He just had time to glance back over his shoulder at Pete and saw the man give him a nod of encouragement. Pete seemed to think that he needed to make friends. Turning back to the humans who pulled him over to a large machine, he realized it was made up of various wires and computer screens and even mirrors. But what caught his eye and made his breath catch was what the wires themselves were made up of. Pasta. Someone, possibly Rose had designed this machine out of food. He was immediately reminded of the Master and he felt a pang of emotion at the thought of his dead nemesis. What would he have made of this new Doctor?

“Do you see?” said the girl, interrupting his thoughts, “Do you see all of this? We think it means the cracks have closed. What can you tell us?”

The Doctor reached into his inside pocket and stopped short when he found no glasses and no sonic. _This is my life now,_ He thought sadly. He leant forward to analyze their data. Relief flooded through him when he realized he could still understand whatever problem was put in front of him. He sighed.

“Yes, you’re quite right. The cracks have closed, just as they should be.” Another sigh. “Guess that means I’m stuck here.”

“I’m so sorry,” said the girl, “We haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Clarice, but everyone calls me by my mutant code name, Blink. This shy chap here is Q.” The man in question blushed when the Doctor looked at him.

_Gay._

_What?_

_He’s gay. My gaydar is pinging. All the young good looking ones are._

_Shut up, Donna._

“Your machine,” said the Doctor carefully. “It’s built with solid foods.”

“Ah yes,” replied Q, “The man who built this has rather unorthodox methods. He’ll be back soon, while we wait…”

“Blink, what have I said about bringing potential boyfriends to work?”

The newcomer was tall, more so than the Doctor and had eyes that could cut through steel with their gaze. He stalked over to where the three of them stood, looking very much like a disapproving father.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said, addressing the Doctor.

“It’s okay, Mr. Holmes. This is the Doctor.”

The man fell silent. He went white, then very red. After swallowing a couple of times, he threw accusing looks at his colleagues and attempted to regain his composure. And failed miserably.

“It’s okay,” smiled the Doctor, ignoring Donna who was cursing her gaydar, “This is all rather new for me too. You see, I’m the Doctor, but I’m not, I’m a clone so to speak, a half human-timelord metacrisis. That means…”

“A human body housing a timelord brain,” cut in Mr. Holmes. “Fascinating.” He looked genuinely excited. “I’m Sherrinford Holmes, you may call me Sherrinford. I see you’ve met my colleagues.” He glared at the pair, as though they were responsible for his brief embarrassment. However, the Doctor wasn’t paying attention.

“Oh, you’re smart. No really, that’s me speaking and I’m usually the cleverest man in the room. Did you build this dimension canon? Why did you use food instead if electrics?”

“I was bored.”

“Excuse me,” cut in Q, “But I would like to remind you that I was the one who had to cook the food at exactly the right temperature, for an exact amount of seconds and every time I was a millisecond too late, you always said…” He withered under his colleagues combined glare.

“Erm, who wants coffee?” he squeaked and yelped when Blink whacked him over the head with a rather painful looking clipboard. She turned back to Sherrinford.

“How is it that after working with you for four years, I still have to call you Mr. Holmes, but the Doctor gets to call you Sherrinford after five seconds?”

Sherrinford had enough sense to look a little abashed. “Well, he’s the Doctor. Sort of.” He said as if that explained everything (which it probably did). He turned back to the timelord, his expression cautious. “Are you going to think of another name? I’m getting the impression you’re not all that comfortable with it anymore.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” muttered the Doctor. “Spaceman dropped us off in this world and I feel like everyone’s plotting against me. They all keep asking if I’m the Doctor and when I explain…” he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. “Some have been giving me odd looks. There was a friend of Pete’s on the zeppelin yesterday, rich guy, didn’t catch his name. I swear he was looking at me like I was meat.” He sighed and ran a hand over his eyes. “I need a brand new identity, a simple human name and a job. I was hoping Pete would offer me a job here, at Torchwood.”

His three companions beamed.

“That would be wonderful. We’d love the opportunity to learn from you.” Blink patted his arm. “We’ve been told that your universe is very different from ours. Rose told us you don’t have any mutants over there.”

“No, there are no mutants on that planet earth.” Replied the Doctor. “Are you a mutant? You said something about a code name.”

Blink blushed a delicate pink, which crept down her neck and into her top. “Yes, I’m a teleporter. Mr. Tyler recruited me for my ability to open portals in space.”

“And what about your eyes and hair? Beautiful, but unusual.”

“I was born like this.”

“Wow,” the Doctor grinned, his brown eyes alive with excitement. You’ll have to show me your portals sometime.” He faced Sherrinford. “Have you built anything else with food? The last time I saw something like that, it was a fellow Timelord who did it. I just can’t get over the fact that a human from the twenty first century designed something like this!”

Sherrinford didn’t blush, but he looked rather taken aback.

_See, I told you, they’re all gay in this universe._

_What?_

_Just look at his face. He’s like a puppy. He fancies you. Can I flirt with him? Pretty please, let me talk to him for a moment._

_No._

_Why not? He’ll think it’s you._

_No._

“I am designing something else.” Says Sherrinford. “I haven’t told these two yet.” That comment earned him curious glances.

“I’m attempting artificial intelligence, but for now I’m just constructing the body.” He leads them over to a large table in the corner of the room. “I’ve already constructed the head and torso.”

“You’ve built it in such a way that a human could actually fit inside.” Observed the Doctor. “Is that the idea?”

“Yes it is. I’m designing these because our tactical teams face dangerous threats, and in a suit like this one, they would be bullet proof and therefore a lot safer. But for them to be able to operate the suit, it requires an artificial intelligence. That’s why I’m building Christopher.”

He halted as he said the name, as though fearing having said too much. A mask of indifference takes place on his face and the Doctor was reminded of himself. Perhaps he and Sherrinford had more in common than they both realised.

***

A while later, Blink and Q go to get them all coffee (tea was rare in this universe) and the Doctor and Sherrinford sit down and discuss improvements that could be made to Christopher.

“Where do you plan to get the power source from?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. I had strict orders from Pete Tyler not to build Christopher, but…” he hesitated, “But I need Christopher. He was so smart and now I can make him smarter.”

Donna couldn’t quite figure out what was going on, but the Doctor felt he understood. Sherrinford had obviously felt lost without him. He wanted to ask about him, but the Doctor was (half) human now and he didn’t want to step on egg shells when he’d only just met the man.

Sherrinford looked at him straight in the eye. “So, have you thought of a name yet?”

“Well,” the Doctor ran his tongue over his teeth as he thought about his answer. “As my first name, I thought I’d go with either Chris or John.”

Sherrinford narrowly avoided dropping the circuit board he was holding. He smiled brokenly. “Chris is a good name. I assume it’s because you’re a metacrisis?”

“You’ve hit the nail right on the head. I think my surname will be Noble.”

He froze. “I mean Noble. Noble. Noble.” Why couldn’t he say Smith? “Noble, Noble. What I’m trying to say is Noble.”

_Donna, what are you doing to me?_

_I like my surname and I’m keeping it. Deal with it, Spaceman._

_But…_

_No, this is my body too and I’m not having people call me Smith. Even Stormy boy back here thinks it’s lame._

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine thank you. By the way, can I call you something other than Sherrinford? It’s a bit long. How about Ford?”

Sherrinford stares at his lips for a little too long. “Ford’s good.” He said eventually.

“All right then. Come along, Ford, let’s go find out where our coffee disappeared to.”

And together they left the lab.


	6. The Freaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finds out some horrible truths about Pete's world. Warning for discrimination and homophobia in this chapter.
> 
> Chris/The Doctor = Ten 2  
> Ford = Sherrinford Holmes  
> Clarice = Blink  
> Christopher = Sherrinford's machine / invention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I've been very ill. All mistakes are mine.

A whole week passed without incident. The Doctor, who now had a name, a birth certificate, a lab coat and a toothbrush, was slowly settling into this new world and its society. He had a bank account and other trivial things that he’d always deemed pointless because he’s always had the TARDIS to provide whatever he required. Although he had a TARDIS piece he kept hidden away in his pocket, he refused to show it to Rose or anyone else, in fear they would confiscate it. He just couldn’t allow that to happen. It was all he had left of his home planet. Memories weren’t enough; he needed to have a possession, something tangible that he could dedicate the rest of his life to protecting. The rest of his very, very short life.

 

But more important than the bank account and the lab coat and the job and even the piece of TARDIS were his friends. He had made true friends. He’d always had companions who fancied him or thought he was odd or just came along because of whatever he had to offer, but the three people he worked with had become an important part of his life. In less than a week, he woke up every day after a six-hour sleep (he required sleep now that he had a human body) with the desire to see the same people. He’d hardly had any contact with the Tyler family and he didn’t even know of Rose’s whereabouts. She could have left the country for all he knew, but he found he didn’t particularly care. Giving her time to adapt to him was essential and he needed to allow her this. He just had to try and put himself into her shoes.

 

Ford, Blink and Q were perhaps the best thing that had happened to him in forever. He learnt more from them than he had from anyone in a long time. He studied mutants and aliens he’d never encountered before. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t the teacher, but rather the pupil. It was thrilling. Together they drew up plans and discussed how to build Christopher under the radar. The power source was still a problem, but the Doctor had faith that Sherrinford would work his way around it. He had so much to learn, which was probably why he hadn’t noticed Rose over the past few days. It turned out she’d been watching him a lot, along with some of her colleagues. His interaction with Sherrinford, Q and Blink had caused quite a stir in the lab’s gossip.

 

888

 

“Have you noticed how much he hangs out with the Freaks?”

 

Rose glanced up at her coworker, irritation etched across her face. “I know. First he’s all over me and now he’s hanging out with the lab rats. I don’t get it.”

 

“I’m worried about your boyfriend, Rose. Have you seen how Holmes is always lapping up his attention? You know where we found Sherrinford three years ago, so you know what that means, right? Maybe we should talk to security, tell them to warn the Doctor away from Holmes. Freak like that shouldn’t be allowed any contact with people. I say we should have left him in the hole we found him in.”

 

“If the Doctor hears about this world’s homophobia, he won’t be impressed.”

 

“So? It’s not natural, that’s the way it is. He’ll just have to learn.” Her other coworker, Ben said. “Oh Jesus, here they are now. Freak alert, everyone.”

 

They all turned away from their food to stare at the four people walking into the cafeteria. They didn’t notice the several sets of eyes glaring at them from across the room. Ben choked on his chicken sandwich as they all saw Sherrinford put his hand on the Doctor’s arm for a period of time too long to be considered just friendly. Someone behind Rose made gagging sounds as the two men held eye contact and smiled at each other.

 

“Oh dear lord, is the Freak smiling? That’s just so weird.”

 

“I think it’s gone too far,” muttered Ben. “James, back me up here, I’m gonna have a word with him.” He stood up.

 

“Guys, don’t,” pleaded Rose, “It doesn’t matter, I know the Doctor, he’s not gay and he’s just fascinated by Blink because of her mutation, he’ll get bored soon, he always does.” But no one listened to her.

 

The Doctor, who’s birth certificate said Chris Jonathan Noble, had just grabbed a tray and picked up a knife sharp enough to cut through tough meat when he heard a commotion behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and froze at the sight of Sherrinford flat on his back near their table, his trousers stained with his favorite tomato soup, a muscular man standing over him. Q was on his knees, his arms held roughly behind his back as he struggled and Clarice wasn’t fairing any better as she was unable to open a portal to help herself or her friends. Everyone in the room has risen to their feet, unsure at what to do or whose side they should take. But the Doctor couldn’t hear what anyone said or yelled because Donna abruptly took control of their legs and he suddenly charged across the room, his vision turning red. The Oncoming Storm let out a roar that tore at their vocal cords and with Donna screaming obscenities, the Doctor ploughed into the enemy, a man taller and heavier than him. As the other personalities took control, the Doctor was shoved back into the recesses of his mind and faded from consciousness.

 

888

 

When he came around, the Doctor first noticed with a certain amount of satisfaction that he wasn’t flat on his back and beaten into a bloody pulp. What _did_ get his attention was that he was crouching over another man, the knife in his hand pressed to his throat. The taller man was on the floor a little further away, blood gushing out of his nose. The rest of the room had gathered around them, staring at him with fear in their eyes. His knuckles were sore and his throat was rather painful. Panting like he’d run a marathon, he hid a squirm as sweat dripped down his neck. Without turning his head, he addressed the two men behind him.

 

“Let them go before I do something we’ll all regret.”

 

Clarice stumbled as she was released and helped Q up. Sherrinford stared dumbfounded at the Doctor from his position on the floor. At that moment Pete ran into the room with security at his heels. He stopped short and he froze like a scared animal at the sight of the Doctor. The Doctor could’ve sworn that you would’ve been able to hear a pin drop. Slowly he rose to his full height, glaring down at the humans on their backs below him. Then he stared at the crowd around them until he finally spotted Rose.

 

“I thought these people represented Torchwood.” He said, voice laced with steel. “Is this your idea of Torchwood?”

 

Rose broke eye contact. Pete ran a hand over his face and sighed minutely. No one uttered a word.

 

“Well then.” He continued, swallowing hard and ignoring the shaking that now wracked his body from the adrenaline rush. “That says it all, I guess.”

 

Reaching a hand out, he pulled Sherrinford up. “Don’t make me angry.” He declared, addressing everyone in the room. “You won’t like me when I’m genocidal.” Slowly, he led his friends from the cafeteria. Muttering started up behind them and he heard Pete give the other men a good dressing down. Soon, he could no longer hear them. When they reached the lab, he pointed at the chairs. “Sit.” He ordered. “I want an explanation and I want it now.”

 

No one moved. “NOW!” He demanded and wheeled his chair into the center of the room. The others obeyed and sat timidly. For a moment, no one spoke.

 

“Tell me.” Said Chris gently.

 

And so they told him. Blink spoke of discriminations against mutants, of the experiments performed on mutants and how Torchwood were finding bodies across Britain, along with a few extra-terrestrials. Ford spoke of hate crimes against homosexuals and how it had been illegal to be gay until three years ago. And the more they talk the more Chris wants to cause harm every person who ever hurt his new friends. There was something Sherrinford wasn’t telling him, something dark and best kept locked away and the Doctor promised himself that he would find out what that secret was.

 

The storm raged inside of him.

 

888

 

Ford sat behind his desk, carefully drawing up the plans for Christopher’s head piece. He only looked up when the Doctor cleared his throat.

 

“Here.” He said and held out his hand. In his palm sat the TARDIS piece. Sherrinford carefully took it away from him and examined it closely. He questioned the Doctor with a look.

 

“It’s a power source for Christopher.” He said. “It’s all that’s left of Gallifrey. And I want you to have it.”

 

Sherrinford blinked rapidly as if to clear the confusion from his head. Chris smiled, amused.

 

“It’s a TARDIS. Enough energy to power up the world for millions of years, let alone a robotic suit. I want you to have it. Before you say no, I want you to think about it. I’ve given it a lot of thought, which by my standards isn’t much at all, but that’s okay. I consider you to be a good friend, my best friend even. You’re the only person I trust, asides from Clarice and Q. We’ll tell them when they get back. I’m going to go pick up the parts I ordered for Christopher. See you later.”

 

“When you get back,” replied Ford, stopping him in his tracks, eyes still on the circuits in front of him, “I want to talk about what happened at lunch today. I want to talk about what you were yelling when you attacked them. Because it didn’t sound like you talking at all.”

 

The Doctor left with his head down.

 

888

 

Walking down the alley, he was suddenly attacked from behind and he immediately recognized the smell of Chloroform. The Doctor struggled in vain as he was thrown into the back of a van and bashed over the head. _This isn’t going to end well,_ he thought and hoped someone would find him in time before his captors hurt him, or worse, the Oncoming Storm killed a bunch of unsuspecting humans.

 

“We have him, Mr. Moriarty. We have Holmes’ friend.”

 

 

 


End file.
